5

Why is a bitcoin node pruned to 550MB taking up 10GB+?

$ du -smc blocks chainstate index | sort -g
0       index
849     blocks
10325   chainstate
11174   total

1 Answer 1

8

A pruned node deletes historical block chain data it already validated. However the blocks are not the only data stored by a node. In order to be able to validate blocks a node needs to maintain a UTXO set (here in the chainstate folder). This data cannot be pruned.

Nowadays the most part of the additional disk space usage comes from the UTxO set. But as @Murch points out in the comment a node will always keep at least 288 blocks, which can also technically exceed 550MiB.

0

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.